Sometimes I wonder why we waste our time creating blog posts about Sterling District Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio. He seems to relish the controversy and bask in the criticism. Lowell of Blue Virginia put up a post yesterday about Delgaudio’s opposition to H.R. 4530, the “Student Non-discrimination Act”. This act would basically protect LGBT students from bullying and harassment. Nothing objectionable there, right?

But no. Not according to The Man in the Orange Hat. You see, TMOH takes any opportunity he sees to spin anything referencing LGBT issues as a “homosexual agenda to radicalize America” (paraphrasing mine).Here’s what TMOH has to say about H.R. 4530:

You see, the Homosexual Classrooms Act contains a laundry list of anti-family provisions that will:

• Require schools to teach sodomy and other appalling homosexual acts so homosexual students don’t feel “singled out” during already explicit sex-ed classes;

• Spin impressionable students in a whirlwind of sexual confusion and misinformation, recruiting and even pressuring vulnerable teens and pre-teens into the homosexual “lifestyle”;

• Effectively outlaw voluntary prayer in schools, and expose students who pray privately to lawsuits and even criminal prosecution for “religious intimidation”;

• Exempt homosexual students from punishment for propositioning, harassing, or even sexually assaulting their classmates, as part of their specially-protected right to “freedom of self-expression”;

• Force parochial schools to secularize and purge any reference to religion because radicals claim it creates a “hostile learning environment” for homosexual students.

Simply put, The Homosexual Classrooms Act will use schools as weapons to eradicate traditional values in the next generation of American students.

Scary stuff, huh? Here’s what the actual purpose of H.R. 4530 states:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to ensure that all students have access to public education in a safe environment free from discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity;

(2) to provide a comprehensive Federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity;

(3) to provide meaningful and effective remedies for discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; and

(4) to invoke congressional powers, including but not limited to the power to enforce the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and to provide for the general welfare pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution and the power to enact all laws necessary and proper for the execution of the foregoing powers pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution, in order to prohibit discrimination in public schools on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Not so scary after all. As a matter of fact, it seems like pretty prudent legislation.

We here in Loudoun have had to put up with the antics of TMOH for a long, long time. Until recently, no one stood up to Delgaudio and his hate speech. Come 2011, Loudoun will have to make a choice – will we continue to be mired in the politics of hate championed by a bigot like Eugene Delgaudio? Or will we finally progress to the point where everyone in Loudoun County (and America, at that) can accept and respect the diversities of everyone, be it race, creed, color, or sexual identity?

I think we all know the answer to that, but until we rid ourselves of miserable people like Eugene Delgaudio, we will be stuck in the Dark Ages.

Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Regulations Monday, May 24

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act regulations at 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 24, 2010, in the Board Room of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E. in Leesburg. More information is online at www.loudoun.gov/chesapeakebay.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay is directly related to the health of our local streams, rivers and water table. Loudoun is considering adopting a policy that would require it, by statute, to take efforts to reduce point source pollution and implement measures to preserve and improve the health of the Bay through our own tributaries.

That may sound onerous, but click below to read just how simple and basic the requirements would be. This is quite literally the easiest step we could take to start improving the quality of the water we share with our neighbors along the Potomac.Loudoun has been examining its role in protecting the Bay since the new Board took office in 2008. For the past year, a series of stakeholder meetings have been held to gather public input about proposed changes to development requirements that would reduce Loudoun’s pollution of the Bay. The essence of the Act is to provide a 100 foot buffer around waterways and wetlands that feed the Bay. It’s the most basic and simple of protections, but one which has been sorely ignored by Loudoun’s development culture.

Supervisor McGimsey has been a strong voice for the environment throughout her career, and on this issue, she is out in front, as usual.

Many of you have already spoken with me about your thoughts on the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act regulations.  The official public hearing is on Monday evening (more information below), which is your chance to speak directly to all nine supervisors.  I hope you will take advantage of this important opportunity to communicate with us.

Andrea McGimsey

Interested members of the community should come to the hearing at the Loudoun Government Center on Monday evening. If you are wondering how adoption of a program under the Bay Act would impact you, the County has provided an excellent presentation explaining what is involved and an interactive map of areas of the County that would be impacted.

Our neighbors in Fairfax and Alexandria have already adopted their programs for the Bay Act. As the northernmost County in Virginia feeding into the Potomac, our ability to influence the water quality going into the Chesapeake (From Broad Run and Goose Creek, just to name two tributaries) is great.

The health of our water is the health of all of us. Providing a buffer around streams and wetlands is a way for us to do our part for our future, and the future of the Bay. The Board should adopt a program of action under the Bay Act.

(This is something I wrote in March, but given Tuesday’s results, I felt it was worth reprising here as a reminder of how far we’ve already come. -P13)

A moment of levity from the healthcare denouement over the past few weeks was the shout of “Yes, we did” from a Congress member during the President’s signing ceremony. The President had commented about the amount of abuse many members of Congress had suffered during the debates, and “Yes, we did” was Congressman Ackerman’s response.

But “Yes, we did” is also a fitting reminder for what has been accomplished since January, 2009. In the face of united and vitriolic opposition from the Republicans, as well as outright lies and slander, our Democratic Congress and President Obama have delivered on progress for the American people. It’s cumbersome progress, and the change we want is not arriving as quickly as we might have wished, but turning the ship of state is not a rapid maneuver. Our President promised change we could believe in, not change that would happen quickly, or even change that would be revolutionary.At this point, it is worthwhile to review the changes that have happened since January 2009, and reflect. These changes are, after all, what we as Democrats believe in.

• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – Reestablishes a woman’s right to seek justice for pay inequality at work. Fair pay for fair work has been a founding principle of our party for centuries.
• American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – This law mitigated the worst of the great recession, delivered a tax cut to 95% of Americans, and began the reinvestment in our public infrastructure the nation needs to be competitive for the next century.
• SCHIP – Before there was HRC or HIR there was SCHIP. We might forget, but making sure kids get access to healthcare was actually controversial thanks to the Republicans. Among the first things Democrats did upon gaining the majority and the Presidency was reasserting our belief that children shouldn’t get sicker because their parents cannot afford healthcare.
• Credit CARD Act of 2009 – Rebalancing the relationship between credit card companies and consumers, this bill prevents credit card issuers from arbitrarily raising interest rates and changing terms, and gives consumers full visibility into the long-term cost of credit card debt on their bills. No longer will credit card companies be able to use unannounced fees and term changes to gouge people.
• Justice Sotomayor – After a decade of conservative judges being appointed to the high court, we added a Democratic Justice whose experiences so closely match the struggles and triumphs of millions of Americans. Regardless of race and gender, Justice Sotomayor’s life and experiences give her a perspective on justice that has been sorely lacking on the Supreme Court.
• Withdrawal from Iraq – Without too much fanfare, Iraq’s recent elections continue the American road to withdrawal from a misguided war.
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Health insurance reform. This Congress and this President cross the finish line on a race that was 100 years old. Every American will have the opportunity to get insurance. No one can be turned aside for pre-existing conditions. There will be no “lifetime cap” on benefits.
• Health Reform Enhancements – Not only did Congress pass the reform, they improved it in the same week! The reconciliation package provided greater assistance for those who will have the most difficulty affording insurance, while reducing the deficit by over $100 billion over the next 10 years.
• College Loan Reform – For years, our government has assumed all the risks of student lending, while allowing private banks to take all the profits. This year, Congress changed that to make more money available for grants, make student lending more efficient and cost-effective, and expand the availability of college loans for students across the country.

And those are just the big ones. There are other, lesser known accomplishments that are equally worthy of pride, for example:

• Civil Rights History Project – In 2009, Congress and the President directed the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress to begin a project collecting the oral histories of the Civil Rights movement. Fifty years later, this is an idea that was long overdue.
• Fraud Enforcement and Recovery – There was some question as to whether the massive frauds in the mortgage industry that led to the financial meltdown of 2008 were actually illegal. This act answered that question, and ensured that banks that perpetrated such acts would be criminally prosecuted.
• Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform – After years of no-bid contracts and missing pallets of cash, has begun the work of reforming and accounting for how Defense acquisitions are managed.
• Tobacco Regulation – Thanks to Congress and the President, the FDA can finally regulate one of the last unregulated drugs.
• Human Rights Enforcement – Did you know that before this Administration, there was no dedicated division in the Department of Justice for enforcing international human rights laws? Now there is.

Change, when it is happening, can be hard to see. A glance back at some of the things accomplished in the past year is important, because none of these things would have happened without a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President. And there wouldn’t be this Congress and this President without the time, money, energy and support of Democratic activists and volunteers, as well as millions and millions of voters across America, joining together in election and campaign, month after month, to make it happen.

Yes, we can. Yes, we did.

Tonight, for the first time ever, two incumbent Democratic Senators failed to win primaries in a single day.  That has never happened before, and is greater than the number of incumbent Democratic Senators who lost primaries over the past decade combined.  Further, both challengers had little to no establishment support (especially Sestak), and one was in a red state (Halter).  Most importantly, both challengers took on the incumbents from the left. – Chris Bowers, OpenLeft

2010 has been billed as a bad year to be a Democrat, but yesterday’s results proved otherwise. In the only race actually deciding a Congressional seat yesterday the Democrat won (just as Democrats have won every special election this year). In the vast majority of races with Democrats in them, the more Democratic candidate either won or pushed the less Democratic candidate to a runoff.

You’d think the narrative would be “progressives triumphant” but for some reason the media is obsessed with a man named Rand.

That’s fine, it’s okay for them to be wrong for a while. It gives us a chance to build our fight for VA-10. Jeff Barnett is poised to ride a wave of anti-establishment opinion into the hallowed halls of Congress.There are few Representatives in Congress who are more “establishment” than Frank Wolf. He came in with the Reagan revolution and has been a muddler in Congress ever since. While Chair of the Transportation committee he accomplished nothing as Loudoun county began to experience the growth that required action on roads, trains and buses long before today. He is the “dean” of the Virginia delegation, having served longer than any other member from our Commonwealth, and yet he is quite possibly the least-known Congressmember from Virginia.

Jeff Barnett and Democrats like him will have an opportunity in the Fall to run on Democratic accomplishments. Frank Wolf’s record in Congress is thin while he was in power, and retrograde while he is in opposition. As my colleague Daverunner has cataloged, Mr. Wolf has voted against the very legislation which is putting our country back on the right track. Just a few bills Mr. Wolf voted against, bills that will directly benefit his constituents, include:

• The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – In a supreme act of hypocrisy, Frank Wolf voted against the bill, and then criticized the Governor for not spending its money fast enough.
• Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 – Energy conservation in our appliances is just good sense, of which Mr. Wolf apparently has little.
• The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – Which Frank Wolf opposed because apparently my wife and daughter shouldn’t be paid the same money for the same work as a man. Because that is staying in touch with the needs of his constituents in VA-10.
• Health Insurance Reform – Nevermind the number of families with children over 18 who need to stay on their parents’ insurance. Nevermind the number of people in our district who have run up against “lifetime caps” on benefits, or been dropped from coverage after getting sick, Frank Wolf voted against this bill, and his fellow Virginians.

Tuesday showed America, and Virginia, one thing. It showed that when given a choice, voters choose the candidate who is fighting the hardest for them.

(P.S. Go read KathyInBlacksburg at BlueVirginia today. This post could have been titled, “What Kathy Said.”)

It’s all about the links, really and truly.

I’ve noticed a tendency among wingnuts to respond to cartoons like this one and last week’s (about pre-polluted babies), with accusations that I just want to go back to the stone age. I marvel at this quaintly simplistic, binary way of thinking. As if any suggestion that we apply more reason and caution to how we do things means I want to return to a purely agrarian lifestyle living off my own yams. It must be nice to live in a world where everything fits into a neat little box. – Jen Sorensen

• New Uses For the Gulf of Mexico – Jen Sorensen went to UVA, so her stuff is doubly awesome.
• Rt 28 Stakeholder Meeting – There’s a meeting for people interested in what’s going on on the Rt 28 corridor next Monday.
• Out Of My Mind – A CBS news reporter is recovering at Walter Reed from getting blown up while covering Afghanistan. She is recording her saga through this little-known blog. This post is just a taste of the price of war, and everyone should read it, and then consider that she wasn’t even a combatant.
• Bitter First Fruits and Sarcastic “Academics” – A nice peek into the smoke and mirrors that is the marriage movement. And an answer to the question, “what happens when you call a conservative’s bluff.”
• ATM’s a Mystery to Senator – An incredulous story about how out-of-touch some legislators are with regard to ATM’s (and simple technology as a whole), especially Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
• On Rand Paul – Vivian Paige’s take on Rand Paul proves why she is in the pantheon of best bloggers in Virginia. Read it.
• Biodiesel from Sewage Sludge Within Pennies a Gallon of Being Competitive – Gas from sewage at competitive prices? Man, I love human ingenuity. Perhaps this is a fitting tribute, in some way, to our 43rd President.
• Three Reasons a GOP Landslide Won’t Happen – Worth reading if only for this quote, “The Tea Party can fit inside the GOP because it is more a mood than a philosophy: surly, bitter, and above all entitled (cut my taxes, but keep your hands off my Medicare and Social Security).

This is just a reminder that American Flatbread is having their Relay For Life benefit bake today. If you can eat there today, tell them you want 15% of your bill to go to the Relay For Life team that the LCDC is sponsoring.

There’s a map to American Flatbread below.  
View Larger Map

The census is well underway, with Loudoun County checking in at 77% response rate. Late this year and early in 2011, state legislators will be deep in discussions regarding redistricting the House of Delegates and Senate district boundaries. A nice explanation of how that will go about happening is discussed here. Similarly, Loudoun County’s magisterial districts will also likely be redrawn in 2011, and Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) has been making waves as to drastically changing the make up of the districts.

Supervisor Waters introduced on January 20, 2010, an action item that recommends exploring changes to the Board of Supervisors terms and districts. The changes she wishes to explore are: 1) staggered terms for Supervisors (i.e., 4 or 5 supervisors running every 4 years instead of all 9 at the same time); 2) an increase or decrease of the number of supervisor seats; and 3) having at-large representatives instead of district-based representation.Proponents of staggered terms say that moving to this type of system would ensure board continuity and would preclude the loss of institutional knowledge should there be a mass purge of supervisors. It can be argued that board continuity would be increased the longer that supervisors have to work with each other. Shorter terms of office (i.e., two years) would give the supervisors less chance to work together as a team, if there are supervisors being voted out every two years. Also, the “loss of institutional knowledge” argument is completely laughable, as incoming supervisors rely on paid county staff to bring them up to speed. The paid staff are the heart and soul of county government, and are the true “institutional knowledge”.

Staggered terms would also mean that with elections every two years, fund-raising will become more prevalent. With fewer candidates among whom to spread dollars (likely to incumbents), it would become inherently more expensive for citizens to mount serious challenges. And we would lose the opportunity for a “throw the bums out” movement, a la 2007, which is all the populist rage in politics today.

Ms. Waters also proposes looking into the possibility of reducing the number of supervisor seats. Currently, Loudoun County has 8 supervisors and one at-large representative. Waters’ action item used 2005 data to compare the number of residents represented in Loudoun with similar sized counties in Virginia. But 2009 census estimates put Loudoun’s population at just over 301,000, an 18% increase from 2005, and we are still growing. Using 2009 data, the 8 district-based supervisors represent an average of 37,646 residents each. Waters estimates that Loudoun can get by with 7 supervisors, representing over 43,000 residents per seat, on par with Prince William County, larger in population. Why we would want to increase the number of residents represented is beyond me. It would entail making the supervisor a full-time position, and would almost certainly require a hike in the supervisors’ salaries. Interestingly, Supervisor Waters voted to increase the salaries of the Supervisors by 84% in 2006. In a time of budget belt-tightening, is that what we really want to do, when teacher and school staff salaries are being frozen?

(When I questioned her on this in 2006, her e-mail response was “I do believe that whomever serves on the Board of Supervisors should be fairly compensated for their time, especially when most weeks this is a full-time job despite our technical “part-time” status.”)

But the most troubling aspect of Waters’ proposal is moving from a district-based representation to an at-large representation. The problems with this are many. First, Loudoun County is very diverse, from the go-go suburbia in the east to the pastoral west. Different sections of the county have different needs, and the only way to ensure fair representation of each sector of the county is to keep the district system. Second, supervisors today have opportunity to really get to know most of their constituents; moving to an at-large system with fewer seats would remove the connection supervisors have to their constituents, and vice-versa. Third, at-large voting systems bring with it the possibility of “manufactured majorities”, since an at-large vote is a “vote for four” (or five, depending on the year) system, and parties can run bloc campaigns, instead of district-by-district. This removes the issue of supervisors running for the good of their district and instead running for the county as a whole. Last, since an at-large system, with fewer seats and higher constituent numbers, would require the supervisor position to be a full-time job, only the wealthy would seemingly be able to run for office. As it stands now, in a part-time role, supervisors can continue to pursue a career and supplement their income with their county pay. Not necessarily so if the board becomes full-time.

So the district-based system of 9 supervisors, up for election every four years, is simply the best system for this county. There is no need to change.

Other References:

http://www.fixthelines.org/Abo…

http://archive.fairvote.org/?p…

http://www.wickedlocal.com/fra…

http://www.labyrinth.com/barb/…

Apparently, some Loudoun residents are taking transportation planning into their own hands, after seeing the mess that Richmond has made of things, and the plan that the County is currently revising.

Steve Hines of Citizens for a Countywide Transportation Plan says the initial plan has been using the wrong traffic patterns, overestimated traffic volume and ignored options to ease congestion.

“Instead of simply fixing intersections or chokepoints, they expand the roads between each chokepoint,” Hines says.

Hines also says the plan doesn’t take into account the effect Metro’s Silver Line will have on county traffic.

“The feeder bus network to support (the Silver Line), the Park N’ Ride lot, that’s very underestimated,” Hines says. – WTOP.com

I applaud my neighbors’ initiative to come forward with an actual plan for a presenting problem rather than just complaining about things. However, I remain skeptical that all of our traffic woes can be solved with roundabouts and buses. We’re going to need more and wider roads in some places that may make people unhappy. It sucks, but so does traffic backed up 20 miles on our throughways and the attendant pollution and frustration.  A quick search on this effort reveals that the mind behind this alternative plan, Steve Hines, has made his opinions about roads and development known in a letter to the Middleburg Eccentric.

The CTP, as drafted is over reaching, at a projected $2, 000,000,000, it appears to be too costly to implement, would end the concept of walk-able neighborhoods as envisioned by the Board, would attempt to use new roads to promote residential development in the Transition Area, attempts to create the allusion of residential housing as economic development, ignores the needs of existing communities and calls for a vast north-south road network when what we need are east-west improvements

…

If the Loudoun Board approves the draft CTP, they will be writing a check that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay. The bill for the hundreds of miles of new roads proposed in the CTP will fall to the citizens of the county as they will be expected to cover the cost of the residential rezonings which will result as county officials trade massive residential development for unneeded ‘developer’ roads.

Steve Hines

Aldie, VA

Overdevelopment in Loudoun is frustrating. The agreements entered into by previous Boards (which were legal if odious) have left the County with a surfeit of already-approved residential development still being built-out. The lack of state funding for our roads means that the County has only two choices for new, necessary roads: proffers or taxes. To criticize the proffer system is not a free critique, it implies that the preference would be for an alternative form of funding necessary improvements to our transportation infrastructure, be they roads, roundabouts or buses. If not proffers, then taxes.

The false choice is not to build any more roads at all. Traffic is growing, and regardless of what Loudoun does, West Virginia is building out their panhandle like mad. Those people are going to commute through Loudoun on our roads, whether we want them to or not. Avoiding that reality, or denying it, is a path to even larger problems in the future than those Mr. Hines worries about in his letter.

I fear that the plan offered by Mr. Hines and his colleagues is based on flawed assumptions about the leveling off of traffic in Loudoun. The advantage that the County’s plan has is the months of public input and hours of work that have gone into it. The County’s plan is truly reflective of a democratically inclusive process.

As Mr. Hines knows, the hearing process used by the Board of Supervisors is one of the many elements of the constant solicitation of public input on important public issues.

• Step one is publicly referring the issue to a Board or Commission, and the public is welcome to comment at the Supervisor meeting at which the issue is initially brought up.
• Step two is for the Board or Commission to study the issue and make a recommendation. All meetings of Boards and commissions are public, and people are welcome to come and make their views known.
• Step three is for a recommendation to be referred back to the Board of Supervisors, once again the public can come and comment.
• Step four is for the Board to act (or not) on that recommendation.
• Of course, throughout this process, citizens are welcome to call and write their Supervisors. As we have geographically and population delineated Districts, our Supervisors are generally quite responsive to inquiries and comments from their constituents.

By my count, that’s at least five different opportunities for the public to let their opinions be known.

Part of the issue, however, is that just because you are heard, that doesn’t mean you get your way.

The alternative plan offered by Mr. Hines does not have the benefit of massive public input and official deliberation. It is an important part of the public discussion, but given the preponderance of public scrutiny the County’s plan is being subjected to, I believe. Citizens for a Countywide Transportation Plan carries the burden of proof that their plan is both more viable and more widely accepted than that of the County. As yet, that proof is lacking.

But that’s just how I see it.

(Once again, a tip-o-the-hat to Loudoun County Traffic for the story.)

This is what it looks like when one-third of all trips are made by bicycle:

Also: Did you see those buses? WOW!Loudoun will host two pit stops along the W&OD trail, where folks who registered in advance can get swag!!! (Unfortunately, the register-by date was the 14th. Oops!!)

You know links are fun, you know you want to click through, so go on, do it.

To simplify the above into two slightly misleading sentences: The Lib Dems are New Democrats. Labour are union Democrats.

To simplify even further: The Lib Dems are in coalition with the Tories. This makes them Tories.

• U.S. Racial Wealth Gap Quadrupled Since Mid-1980s – We know that income inequality has reached French Revolutionary levels, so it stands to reason that racial inequality moves in concert considering the poverty rate among minorities. We’re lucky Sen. Webb is a leader on this issue.
• They’re Liberals, Not Leftists – Labour vs. Lib Dems in a nice, if ideological, explanation of British political parties.
• Round Two – If you haven’t been tracking the Ruth Institute saga on DailyKos, go read this. It is stunning that we are still defending the rights of women to have the same freedom of self-determination as men in public fora.
• Household Income in The United States – We’re pretty much all wealthy here in Loudoun. It doesn’t matter how rich you “feel,” the statistics show that the vast majority of us are in the top-third of household incomes in the U.S. Denial of that reality is at the heart of many of our rhetorical disconnects when talking about taxes, among other things.
• Student’s Arrest Tests Immigration Policy – I’ll say it, if you were brought here as an undocumented migrant as a child, by your parents, you should not have to face the same consequences as an adult who crossed the border illegitimately.
• Stories from the Frontlines – Collected testimonies on the real cost of the failed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.